"Introduction to Japanese Bookbinding" Bexx Caswell-Olson

Using historical models as our guide, participants will create a stab-sewn softcover binding in the Japanese tradition. Variations on the stab binding structure, the binding of single sheets, and the selection of tools and materials will also be discussed. Bexx Caswell-Olson is the Special Collections Conservator for the Michigan State University Libraries. She holds a Certificate in Bookbinding from the North Bennet Street School and a Master’s of Library Science from Simmons College. She currently serves as President of the Guild of Book Workers, a national organization dedicated “to all the book arts”.

"Inlay and Onlay" Jesse Hunt

In this workshop participants will create small plaquettes demonstrating basic techniques for the inlay and onlay of leather in decorative binding. Materials will be provided but students are encouraged to bring their own tool kits. Jesse Hunt learned bookbinding and conservation from Richard Baker in St.Louis, Missouri and has spent the last five years working for Bridwell Library on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas Texas.

"An Introduction to Wire Edge Binding" Daniel E. Kelm

Wire edge binding utilizes a thin metal rod along the binding edge of each page. The metal wire is exposed at regular intervals creating knotting stations where thread attaches one page to the next. The result is a binding that opens exceptionally well, and gives you the option of producing unusual shapes. During this introduction you will produce both a simplified codex and accordion model.

"Tunnel Books" Maria G. Pisano

A tunnel book is a wonderful structure that allows the viewer to look within and discover a hidden world evolving in accumulated layers via the optical illusion of perspective. Traditionally a tunnel book is accompanied by supporting concertinas sides, which make the work collapsible, portable and easily viewable. The book becomes an extension of the reader, who’s able to hold it at eye level and marvel at the show.

"A Curator’s Choice of Bookbindings from Six Centuries" Eric White

Bridwell Library’s former Curator of Special Collections will introduce a selection of outstanding bookbindings as evidence of binding history, the book trade, and book ownership since the fifteenth century. Eric Marshall White, PhD, was Curator of Special Collections at Bridwell Library from 1997 to 2015. Currently Curator of Rare Books at Princeton University Library, he specializes in fifteenth-century printed books.

“Hot Stamping Foils for Modern Book Decoration” Priscilla Spitler, Winner of the 7th Helen Warren DeGolyer Award for American Bookbinding

Since the 1990s, Priscilla Spitler has experimented with colored heat-transfer foils, normally used to stamp titles on books, for creative surface design on her leather bindings. A variety of applications for cut and reverse foil stamping technique will be presented in this lecture, including set-ups on a stamping machine for durable flat foil adhesion, which offers a modern alternative to traditional bookbinding design.

***Workshop presenters will provide tools and materials. However, participants are encouraged to bring their own basic tools such as bonefolders, scissors, awls, etc.